MARYLAND LAW SHOWS THE WAY

Three cheers for Maryland! That state has taught Florida and many other states something about conserving energy and saving money.

On Tuesday, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Gov. Robert Ehrlich's veto and passed a bill to improve the energy efficiency of many products sold in the state. Coming on the heels of a similar override by the state Senate last week, the Assembly vote means the measure now becomes law.

The National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, says the new law will help Maryland utilities balance their power loads by reducing peak summer use of electricity by more than 200 megawatts by 2010 and more than 400 megawatts by 2020. The group says the energy savings "will reduce emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides by more than 2 million pounds per year, and make significant reductions in emissions of gases that contribute to smog and global warming."

The law applies to nine categories of newly sold products. Consumer and environmental groups estimate it will save Maryland businesses and consumers as much as $30 million by 2010 and $600 million by 2020.

Floridians could be enjoying savings like that in addition to promoting a cleaner environment -- if state officials had acted responsibly. In fact, a coalition of environmental and civic groups that last year pushed Florida to adopt similar standards for 10 product categories said they could save consumers and taxpayers almost $3 billion by 2030.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a business-oriented research group, said the projected savings were conservative. "It adds value for everyone," he said. A Florida State University study found that the changes would generate 41,000 new jobs and $8 billion in wages.

Besides Florida TaxWatch, the proposed standards were backed by the Public Interest Research Group, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Florida League of Women Voters, the Florida Consumer Action Network and the American Lung Association. Nonetheless, the Florida Department of Community Affairs denied the groups' petition.

That was foolish, short-sighted and irresponsible. The standards, many of them tied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star rating, are already being met by many manufacturers, so they're not exactly a hardship.

Even Gov. Jeb Bush, who presumably could have influenced the DCA's decision, has said that "the cheapest, easiest and fastest kilowatt we can generate is the one we save through efficiencies. There is a consensus on conservation and efficiency, so let us start there."